Asteroid 2002 NY40

by Andrew Pierce

Like Mr. Fragola I looked for the asteroid from my front yard. It cleared briefly in Palo Alto at about 10:45 and I found the object fairly easily, using the Sky and Tel charts to estimate RA and Dec and then using the DSC and drive on my C 9.25 to camp out on a spot until the little moving guy showed up. I would have snapped it with a digital camera on a 16 second exposure, but the marine layer returned before I could focus. It took a bit of luck with the fog to even see it and it was fun. It'll be awhile before we see an asteroid move like that. Perhaps it would be best if we never see one quite that fast....